I've looked under the Basic Settings - and the encapsulation (whatever that means) is to "PPPoA (PPP over ATM)" - Now in the past, I've been told by BT and by Belkin to set encapsulation as "PPPoE (PPP over Ethernet)"

Does it matter which one i use?

Also... Why is Netgear set to channel 6 and all the others i've had have been set to channel 11? - again, does it matter what channel?

Finally -
How to I set-up security on this modem router?
In Belkin - it had WEP - which just didn't allow my Mac to join the network - but listed under the Wireless Tab > Wireless Settings > Security Options are two options: NONE or WPA-PSK[TKIP] + WPA2-PSK[AES].

Thanks in advance for helping a novice newbie. I really appreciate all the help given.

First of all, welcome to MacRumors. Although I am fairly new myself, let me try and be helpful:

1) NetGear is definitely the way to go - I have a NetGear router at home, the office, and my fiancee's place, and it works seemlessly in all cases.

2) BT is most definitely PPPoA now; I have that set-up at the office. If you change it to PPPoE it won't work - why, I don't know, but it is PPPoA.

3) The channels tend to be preset by manufacturers; you can manually override it to 11 (mine came pre-set as 11). It really doesn't matter unless you or others in your proximity have things on the same channel. For best results, but a number other than 6 or 11.

4) To set up security, get to the admin page. I think it should be 192.168.0.1. The username and password should both be "admin". Once in the screen, go to "Wireless Settings" which is under "Setup". Then go down to "WEP Security Encryption," select "128bit" strength, and put in a keyphrase so that it generates a "Key" for you. Be sure to save this number somewhere, and then hit "Apply" and exit the router's admin page. One you have done this, you will need to reconnect to the network and put in the new WEP Key. Be sure to select "128 bit HEX" from the drop-down menu.

To set up security, get to the admin page. I think it should be 192.168.0.1. The username and password should both be "admin". Once in the screen, go to "Wireless Settings" which is under "Setup". Then go down to "WEP Security Encryption," select "128bit" strength, and put in a keyphrase so that it generates a "Key" for you. Be sure to save this number somewhere, and then hit "Apply" and exit the router's admin page. One you have done this, you will need to reconnect to the network and put in the new WEP Key. Be sure to select "128 bit HEX" from the drop-down menu.

Click to expand...

Hi,
Thanks for the quick response - was too busy walking around my house testing the signal - and it works. When all the others failed 6 feet from the router.

Security -
I'm on the web-interface, but in the "Wireless Settings" the only security mode options are: NONE or WPA-PSK[TKIP] + WPA2-PSK[AES].

However... There's a little blue help menu and I was looking at it for security - it mentions WEP Security Encryption - I've discovered that it's hidden when under the heading "Wireless Network" - the "Mode" is set to "Up to 270Mbps"

If i change that to "g & b" then the WEP option appears - should i change it from "Up to 270Mbps" to "g & b" - I have no idea what this means - hopefully it won't affect my signal.

I just left mine on "Auto 108" - i think that if you only have "g" devices (like Airport Extreme) then it will work a little better on "g only" - but mine does pretty well supporting Airport and Extreme and a Windows PC card of some description.

I had mine set to WPA-PSK which worked seamlessly with Airport, but wasn't supported by the PC card, and the D-Link USB wireless thing I tried (but then it had trouble full stop), so I switched to WEP, generated a passkey, copied it down and entered it into the Airport setup (can't remember if I needed to add a "$" sign to the beginning or not - I think if you choose the "Hex" option it does that for you)

The mode won't affect the broadband speed only the wireless support. More likely to be normal line congestion fluctuations. Wireless access is going to be 108Mbs internally (max) or 54 for Airport Extreme

The mode won't affect the broadband speed. More likely to be normal line congestion fluctuations. Wireless access is going to be 108Mbs internally (max) or 54 for Airport Extreme

Click to expand...

Thanks for letting me know about the speed.

Quote

I just left mine on "Auto 108" - i think that if you only have "g" devices (like Airport Extreme) then it will work a little better on "g only" - but mine does pretty well supporting Airport and Extreme and a Windows PC card of some description.

Click to expand...

So what do you recommend - should I leave it on "up to 270Mbps" and use WPA-PSK[TKIP] + WPA2-PSK[AES] or change it to "g & b" and use WEP?

My PowerBook is Airport Express & sometimes ethernet... and I've also got two WinXP desktops that need to be wireless, One with it's own built-in wireless antenna and the other connected with a "Netgear RangeMax Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter WPN111" - non of these are set-up yet, as i'm trying to configure everything on my mac first.

Airport Express is "g" (54Mbs). the WPN111 - not sure, it's at least "g" and might be "Super-G" (108Mbs). If the other PC is running a "g" or "Super-G" card then you're not going to get 270Mbs anyway (I think that's the new "n" (almost) standard.

It probably won't hurt to have it on 270 regardless. I seem to remember reading in a review of my one that it worked better in a "pure" environment (ie, just g rather than b&g) but am not clear as to whether that was affected by the router setting itself or the kinds of devices that were attaching to it. Easy to play with once you've got it working.

WEP doesn't seem to get much cred as being very secure, and most people seem to prefer WPA or WPA2 (as long as all your devices support it). I think I used WPA2 successfully with Airport.

As far as security goes, the best things you can do are not so much the encryption choice, but (once everything else is setup and working - get all of your computers connected successfully before starting on the security)

1. un-check the option for "Enable Broadcast SSID" (under Advanced wireless Settings) so that your network won't show up in anyone's list of available networks and you have to know and type the name in to join it.

2. In the same area use the "setup access list" and (with all your computers on, so they show up in the list) add each of them to the access list, and then enable it. This will now let these computers (and only these computers) join the network.

As far as security goes, the best things you can do are not so much the encryption choice, but (once everything else is setup and working - get all of your computers connected successfully before starting on the security)

1. un-check the option for "Enable Broadcast SSID" (under Advanced wireless Settings) so that your network won't show up in anyone's list of available networks and you have to know and type the name in to join it.

2. In the same area use the "setup access list" and (with all your computers on, so they show up in the list) add each of them to the access list, and then enable it. This will now let these computers (and only these computers) join the network.

Click to expand...

THANK YOU SO MUCH
Everything is a lot clearer and less scary.

Speed - just something I can't get my head around.
- My area should be getting 5mb speed - I get a max of 4.5mb.
Connected via ethernet cable allows me to get 4.5mb
So why can't wireless computers get the same speed? Why does it drop right down to 450.00kbps?

Thanks
I feel stupid asking - but thats for answering questions from a dumb newbie.

Wireless speed is influenced by a lot of factors - the numbers they give you are theoretical maximums, rarely if ever achievable in real life, but 450Kbs sounds like something is wrong.

I have an Airport Extreme at the other end of the house, on the other side of a microwave, fridge, oven, freezer, glass doors.. (all bad things for wireless) and it still manages between 4-24Mbs.

Where are you getting the number from? Another exciting area for confusion (and happy marketing) is the difference between Kbs and KBs. 1B=8b. Most people when thinking about things like file size etc are thing in terms of B (Bytes) like a 450KB jpg file. In order to make networks sound faster than they are, they use b (bits). Transferring at 450Kbs will take 8 seconds (450KB=3600Kb). Confused? good, that's the way they like it.

Any way. 450KBs (if you're getting that figure from Activity Monitor for example) = 3600Kbs or 3.6Mbs, which is still not good (compared to 54Mbs), but to be expected if you're at some distance from the router or it has to push the signal through stuff to get to you. Although the RangeMax is supposed to be better than most (and for the most part it is), it still really only perfoms at high speeds within 30' or so.

The other thing to try is the orientation of the router - I'm assuming it's one of their internal antenna ones) - apparently the strongest signal is in the plane of the router (ie pointing out the sides, not the top or bottom) and best in the direction of the front side.

Any way. 450KBs (if you're getting that figure from Activity Monitor for example) = 3600Kbs or 3.6Mbs, which is still not good (compared to 54Mbs), but to be expected if you're at some distance from the router or it has to push the signal through stuff to get to you. Although the RangeMax is supposed to be better than most (and for the most part it is), it still really only perfoms at high speeds within 30' or so.

Click to expand...

I'm sitting on my bed, the router is less that 8 feet away, Signal strength - according to the Airport symbol at the top, is dropped by one. and in internet connect has dropped by 7 light-blue-blobs.

jeepers. Is it possible to set the PC up and re-run the test? (just to try and establish whether it's a router wireless problem or an Airport problem).

It may be that the "up to 270" setting is confusing Airport, given that this is only supported by Netgear cards with their proprietry Stuff™ built into it. Try setting it to plain "g" (or "b & g") and see if that helps.

jeepers. Is it possible to set the PC up and re-run the test? (just to try and establish whether it's a router wireless problem or an Airport problem).

It may be that the "up to 270" setting is confusing Airport, given that this is only supported by Netgear cards with their proprietry Stuff built into it. Try setting it to plain "g" (or "b & g") and see if that helps.

Click to expand...

Can't set the PC up right now, everyone else is asleep (12.58am), I'll changed the "up to 270" to "g & B" to see what happens.

good night!
Just to eliminate another possibilty - that the broadband meter is somehow confused by the wireless connection:
you could also try downloading the AP Grapher which will give you a live readout of the signal Airport is getting, and/or the Air Traffic Control widget (if you're on Tiger), both of which will give you a better indication of the actuall transfer rates Airport is achieving.

good night!
Just to eliminate another possibilty - that the broadband meter is somehow confused by the wireless connection:
you could also try downloading the AP Grapher which will give you a live readout of the signal Airport is getting, and/or the Air Traffic Control widget (if you're on Tiger), both of which will give you a better indication of the actuall transfer rates Airport is achieving.

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